Surrey’s saris selling out ahead of Times of India Film Awards show

Davi Bains-Gill posed with several of her saris and dresses that are in huge demand right now, in Surrey, B.C., on April 3, 2013. Wayne Leidenfrost/PNG

LARISSA CAHUTEVANCOUVER DESI

Surrey fashion designer Davi Bains-Gill has had to turn away hundreds of people in search of the perfect outfit for the Times of India Film AwardsÂ (TOIFA).

âWeâve been going crazy and we have weddings and grads at the same time â and now TOIFA,â Bains-Gill said from her 128th Street store, Armaan DBG. âI have to turn people away.â

Bains-Gill started her business 12 years ago, specializing in custom-made South Asian garments. She was most recently the only Canadian designer featured at the TOIFA International Womenâs Day event in early March.

At Armaan DBG Bains-Gill sits down with her clients to create a unique design, which she sends to her team in India where the garment is manufactured with authentic Indian fabric and embroidery.

âThereâs been a lot of people coming in and out trying to find stuff for TOIFA,â she said. âThey look at it like the Oscars . . . everybody wears gowns.â

â(So) there are a lot of people wearing gowns with Indian embroidery on them.â

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But sheâs been forced to turn away upwards of 100 potential clients as they came in looking for Bains-Gillâs custom-made style at the last minute.

Armaan DBG offers a unique twist by creating a fusion of Indian and western styles.

âWe take the best of the east and the west and we mix it together,â she said as one of her clients tried on her custom-made TOIFA gown for the very first time.

The woman placed her order weeks ago and happily looked at her reflection in the grey off-the-shoulder gown tailored with Indian sequins and embroidery.

But not all of Bains-Gillâs clients were quite as fortunate.

âI say eight weeks is what an order takes, but I started doing them in six and then I started doing them in five â I started rush orders,â she said. âFour weeks before the event my team in India was swamped.â

âI started saying no to people … I honestly didnât think it would be this much craziness.â

The first items to go were saris and tunics. And while her store still boasts a display of vibrantly coloured and sequined pieces â the style just isnât meant to be a one-size-fits-all.

âThe sizing â thatâs the problem, right? Everyoneâs different,â she said, adding itâs more common to custom-make. âWe havenât been able to help everybody because of the time issue.â

House of Vanity, located in the same plaza on 128th Street, is seeing a similar flux in business with the TOIFA awards as well.

And part-owner Bal Dhanda said she recently turned a woman away who couldnât find the right size without a custom order.

But the extravagant event this weekend is good for business, too, especially since Dhandaâs store only opened in November.

âPeople get to know our stuff,â she said, adding sheâll be volunteering at the Thursday and Friday night TOIFA events.

âItâs a good opportunity to volunteer and you know get your name out there and meet different people.â